I'm not pretending. Its a bit tedious getting the better of you each and every time we play. I sooner play Stanley every year, while you go to Christie Park for your big local derby.

Absolutely. The guy probably hasnt realised just how immortal he became last night.

Thank (Please don't use that word again) for that.

1. Rangers 2. Swindon Cant think of any others

As much as it pains me to say it, he's a bit of a joker is our Barry. He's right about it being one of the biggest games in the World mind. It's just the rest of the league fixtures he needs to worry about.

Rovers vs B*rnley and Rangers vs Septic on the same weekend, nay the same day. Infact the games overlap. I havent been this nervous about football since England - Scotland at Euro 96. Hope this has a better outcome, must say I'm pretty worried......

To blame, or not to blame, that is the question.

I thought we played really well and was encouraged by the game as a whole. The goal was a disappointing one to lose to as it was really quite avoidable. I guess when you play against players of that standard you have to expect something special. Defensively we look very good (except for Brad, who I thought looked nervous and has done for a while). Midfield wise we look equally good, Pedersen gets into good positions, Emerton is a reformed character, and Savage looked more of a threat in the first half than Ferguson did in 18 months. Thompson wasn't good but then he was never going to get the space he thrives on in a 5 man midfield. Not sure what Mokoena's best position is? I think Dickov needs a rest. He was a pain in the ass to Terry et al last night, but he really didn't offer a lot. I think Johnson would be worth giving a run of games, and to be honest I'd be tempted to go back to Stead starting and seeing if he can kick start this season at the same sort of time (and even the same fixture) as he did at Boro away last season. Overall we did alright, there's no shame in last nights result or performance.

Enjoyable read Bryan. I like the concept that Dickov has "diminutive shoulders"

GAY

Apologies if this has already been asked/answered somewhere, but did they write off the other £2m we owed for Barry? If they did, then we only actually ever paid £4.5m for him. We've got that back, plus the possibility of it rising another £500k. Could it end up that we made a profit on him?

Who cares, he was never that good for us anyway. And I for one am glad we didnt rush out and buy a striker at the last minute. Thats how we ended up with Bothroyd.

Yorkshire Blue/TDI - Please explain how we missed Ferguson last night? We certainly missed something last night, but it sure as hell wasn't Barry Ferguson. Our midfield has been performing, on the whole, like that WITH Barry Ferguson in it. He has done nothing to suggest he would've been the catalyst for a better performance had he been. My comment wasnt stating that I thought the midfield played well - my point is that although we were poor, we have been equally poor when he's been there.

Lets hope so. Dont want him here, we didnt miss him last night and we'll do fine without him.

Granted, but then its not the perception of Diouf that matters. If people think that its only Diouf that would've done that then they are kidding themselves.

I'm surprised at some of the reaction really. Taking it from the top - We got just about what we deserved. We were pretty poor in the creative sense, solid as usual but we did absolutely nothing to warrant winning the game. A draw would've been a decent result based on how poor we were up front, and when you play that badly you always run the risk of taking a sucker punch. You can only blame yourselves when it happens. As for Diouf, I find it hard to criticise him without feeling like a hypocrite. Yes it was a dive, but how many of us wouldn't have been claiming that had it been MGP at the other end? There's not many of us who would've slated him had he earned us a penalty that gave us 3 points. Every win in the Premier Leaue is worth a lot of money, and clubs will do everything they can to win, by any means necessary. Diving is a part of the game, we all know it, and none of us complained when Duffer used to do it. Definite case of win some, lose some. The one plus side to it, is that it surely made it more evident than it ever has been to Hughes and Williams that they need to sign a decent striker and fast. There are 6 days left in the window, lets see what they come up with.

Don't understand why you'd want him to stay. The guy doesnt want to play for us. I'd cut off my left leg to play for Rovers (my left leg is useless, so wouldn't be missed, and I'd still get picked before Amo). Get rid of him.

You have some very unbalanced logic Philip

Yes mate, I'm registered as BrianLaudrup. It has a very similar ambience to this place, enjoyable to visit and post on.

Very well constructed posts Dado, shows a few of our Birmingham friends that it is possible. Can I assume you are the person from the Gersforum of the same name?

One from the Liverpool fans, to the tune of the well known biscuit advert - "He'd break his leg to save a throw in, there's a Biscan in our club"

Novo's looked good this season for them, and seems to be the only player being able to get to performances that Bazza can (but hasnt) reached... but Rangers wont get rid, so theres no point in even seriosly mentioning it. My quick glance over the Rangers first team through up a shock, in that for the first time in years, I barely knew any of the names... just a squad of foreigners. Novo, Prso or Ricksen.

Excellent response from Savage. He has handled himself well in this, particularly in the face of the bile that has come from Bruce & co. He always seemed a pretty determined character to me, there's no doubt in my mind this will make him stronger, which can only be good news for BRFC.

Whereas you should HAVE paid more attention in school.

Go, go now, and don't come back. Thompson is scoring goals and playing well from the centre of midfield, and alongside Savage we probably have to most tenacious midfield partnership in the league. We wont miss you Barry.